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Speech-language pathologists (SLP) treat speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, swallowing, as well as related conditions. Treatment depends on the nature and severity of the disorder; however, the goals of every speech-related treatment program are to:

Fully assess each patient and develop a comprehensive plan of care

Help each patient to understand his or her condition and to achieve a comfortable level of communication in personal and professional settings

Encourage each patient to practice preventive measures and continue with a long-term home program to continue progress

MedStar NRH offers a comprehensive range of inpatient and outpatient speech-language pathology services for individuals from pre-school age through geriatrics.

Inpatient Speech-Language Pathology Services

Outpatient Speech-Language Pathology Services

Communication Disorders That We See

Communication disorders can be a result of a stroke, traumatic brain injury, head and neck cancer, neurological disorders, and other medical conditions. They include:

Language Disorders: Aphasia is an acquired language disorder characterized by impaired comprehension and production of language as a result of brain damage (most often as a result of a stroke.) It can dramatically impair a person's ability to communicate. The main symptom of aphasia is the impairment in the person’s ability to speak, understand spoken words, as well as their reading and writing skills.

Cognitive-communication disorders: difficulty with attention, memory, organization, reasoning, and social skills that impact communication. A cognitive-communication disorder can be a result of numerous medical conditions, including a traumatic brain injury or stroke.

Motor Speech Disorders:Dysarthria is a speech disorder that results from weakness, paralysis, or in-coordination of the muscles that control speech, resulting from neurological diseases and injuries. Dysarthria can result from progressive types of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease. It can also result from an injury to the brain, such as stroke or head injury. Apraxia occurs when the person has difficulty in saying sounds, syllables and words. The difficulty occurs not because of muscle weakness in the person’s lips, tongue, etc. but because of difficulties in coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.

Voice disorders: characterized by an abnormality in the pitch, loudness, duration or quality of the voice. Hoarseness caused by vocal abuse or misuse is the most common voice disorder; however, infection, trauma, reflux, and cancer can also cause voice disorders.

Swallowing disorders: difficulty in swallowing due to numerous medical conditions, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, cancer or trauma. Individuals can experience difficulty in chewing various food textures as well as in symptoms such as coughing and throat clearing when swallowing the food.